It's a very hit or miss experience at Deema. The first time I came here, it hit on EVERY level. The…read moreservice, the seasoning, the quantity. But this time, it fell short in every aspect.
So I hate to lead with the negative, because there is a lot of good to say about this place. When it's good, it's phenomenal. But when it's bad, it's near unbearable.
Let me just say, our last experience here was pretty magical. It was busy, but the owner still came out to greet us and give us his guidance on the menu. I had the Iskender Kebab, my partner had the Wrap plate, and we enjoyed some divine Dubai chocolate cheesecake, per recommendation of the owner. There was live music, we learned we could BYOB(!), and the service and food were outstanding.
This time around, there were only about 6 tables full, including us, in the large dining area. We ordered the oven baked hummus to start.
It didn't come out for 55 MINUTES. Not until AFTER our entrees arrived. After we did order the main dishes, I asked her about the hummus, and the look on her face told me she had completely forgotten it. Whatever, we're just human. The hummus itself was quite good, although the "pitas" for dipping were very papery and bland. I thought the pita last time was much more substantial, but I could be wrong.
We eventually tried to order some more of the pitas but our waitress was nowhere to be found. Every time we got a hold of her, she would then disappear for around 10-15 minutes. The only person around was the woman filling our waters, so most of our questions and orders went through her. We asked her for more pita, and she said she'd put that in right away.
I had a feeling she didn't understand, so when our waitress came back 10 mins later I double checked, and she said they put another hummus in the oven! I can't complain about a language barrier, but whew am I glad we didn't have to wait another hour for hummus!
For the entree I had the Sac Kavurma, which visually is just stunning, like most dishes here. But flavor-wise, it was completely lacking in any seasoning or salt to make it feel like more than just calories. And so I asked the waitress for some sides of garlic sauce when I could flag her down. I saw her pass by me 3 times in the next 10 minutes and finally asked if she was bringing them, but she had forgotten. One time is meh, two times is annoying.
Post-garlic sauce, the dish was a little better, but that chicken was still chewy and flavorless. My partner's Tantuni Wrap Plate was equally lacking in spice or salt, and given that she had the same thing last time, she could confirm that this time was such a huge let down in comparison.
We overheard the table next to us having the same point of view, what with the food lacking in flavor entirely versus their last visit, including vegetables that were soggy and meats that had no seasoning.
They also experienced the language barrier in trying to split their bill, as their waitress misunderstood their request and put everything except the appetizer on one bill. They were workshopping it for about 5 minutes, but I assume they eventually figured it out.
I can definitely understand a difficulty in interpreting a different language, but as someone whose job it is to take orders and work with the person dining in, it was really unprofessional that so many things were forgotten about, misunderstood, or ignored throughout our experience.
I can appreciate when the quality of food makes up for the shortcomings in service, but this time around our meals fell flat. I would give Deema 5 stars based on our last experience, and 2 stars based on this one, so I'll leave it at a solid 3.